A glorious thing happened this week: we took our kids to the inlaws and then we came home alone! It was amazing. We cleaned the house on day one AND IT STAYED CLEAN THE WHOLE TIME they were gone. Staycation sans kids is the best!

We started the week on Cape Cod where we did spend a few days with the girls first. We fit in a trip to Provincetown, and between exploring shops on Commercial Street and climbing the Plymouth Monument, we walked over 7 miles, which I thought was pretty good for my 3 year old who didn't complain once (but slept oh so well that night!).

After leaving them off for "Grammy Camp" (which included a zoo visit, a county fair outing replete with gobs of cotton candy, plus lots of swimming - so don't be feeling badly for them getting ditched ; ) we headed back north. My husband hiked Mt Adams and Mt Madison in NH with friends, we did a local hike together, had drinks with friends, tried two new restaurants, toured a fort, took a clay shooting class, and attended the state quilt show. (I discovered I'll be a semi-valuable team member when the zombie apocalypse begins, as long as the undead fall out of the sky, and that my husband has a very distinct taste in quilts, which is quite opposite mine. I'll share more about the show later this week.) Plus we both got some work done, and as I mentioned earlier, cleaned the house ONCE and it stayed clean for days - that never happens! (Hmm... rereading this and wondering if it makes us sound like fun parents delighted for a few days off or just usually poor housekeepers delighted for a few days off....)

And now for a little new stash from the Maine Quilts show.

These are actually for my mother-in-law's stash as a thank you gift for watching the girls - she loves these colors and she loves making bags, so hopefully they'll all be up her alley!

These are for me. I'll put it out there: I'm not madly in love with all things Cotton & Steel (do like the business/design concept, just not all of the new lines), but I did pick up a select few prints that will play well with my stash.

And I also grabbed these two woodland prints for baby quilt backings (squirrels and hedgehogs!) and a few whimsical Kokka pieces that I have been loving from afar for a long time and was happy to see in person and pick up.

Now we're off to pick up the littles! Can't wait to give them hugs and swap vacation stories : )

~ Sarah

Linking up with Molli Sparkle's Sunday Stash.

Do you remember the Forest Friends tutorial I guest posted last month over at Fort Worth Fabric Studio? Well, it inspired my most recent finish - an adorable little appliqued doll quilt! Today I'm sharing how I used the Danny Deer template to create a double sided doll quilt, as well as reposting the original tutorial if you'd like to download any of the templates and try one of the projects. (Or make something new - a pillow perhaps? A bib? A cute appliqued toddler tee or skirt? So many possibilities!)

I had a hard time gifting this one to my niece one it was done, but at least I can see it every time we visit my brother's family! This quilt started as my Triangle QAL with The Sassy Quilter (finished just in time for the last chance link up - phew!) and even though I pared way back from my originally planned size, I'm delighted with the end result. The applique was a spur of the moment addition, but it ended up completely making the quilt.

To make sure the triangles were fully secured, but the applique wasn't run over in quilting, I did a little pre-sandwich faux-ish (half?) quilting...

First I created the appliqued quilt back using the Danny Deer template reduced to about 80%, and added some flowers and a butterfly. (For directions on how to create and sew this applique, follow the steps of the tutorial below.) I was *really careful* to line it up with the center of one of the resulting triangle hexagons on the other side of the quilt so it would appear framed.

Then I made an open-faced quilt sandwich using just batting and the triangle flimsy, and straight line quilted the inside lines of that one corresponding hexagon.

Finally I made a real quilt sandwich, centering the deer over the already quilted hexagon, pin basted, and finished straight line quilting the rest of the quilt. 

Ta da! No worries about the triangles pulling apart and a nicely framed applique : )

Hurray! My husband's home! The kids and I have missed him, but what I've secretly missed most (um, or maybe not so secretly - he might be on to me ; ) is the extra time to sew that his arrival reinstates. He is the most amazing house cleaner, dinner prepper, and children's dispute arbitrator, allowing me the next seven weeks until school begins to dive headlong into longarming. Hopefully I'll have some "hot off the frame" newbie quilting to show in the coming weeks. My mom sent a stack of charity quilts, as well as I Spy tops for my youngest and two cousins, so I have a few to start practicing on.

Here's my stash share for the week...

I have one of those kids who needs the length but otherwise is not remotely close to filling out her current size, so rather than take in pants, I think it'll be a dresses and leggings fall/winter wardrobe for her. Picked up this Jo-Ann's corduroy and two knits on clearance last week to make some tee dresses... assuming I get over my fear of knits! My MIL is fantastic at sewing with them, though, so maybe I'll sign up for a quick lesson with her first.

I found this stripe from Wrenly by Valorie Wells to use for the backing of my Supernova Friendship Block Swap quilt. I really wanted this, but the stripes match the palette perfectly and were on sale for half the price, and it's a goal of mine to exercise a little more self control and thrift with fabric purchases : )

And last of all, my June Stash Stack Club fabrics. You probably already know I love Dear Stella, so seeing Wild Hearts in Gray in the stack made my heart flutter! Now I want them in every color. What print are you crushing on right now?

~ Sarah

Linking up with the super sparkly Sunday Stash!

I'm thrilled to be part of the New Quilt Blogger Blog Hop this year, hosted by Beth from Plum and June. The hop is an annual event that showcases new quilt bloggers, and I'm excited both for myself and for you to meet all the amazing quilters who are participating - so much creativity and inspiration to be found!

If you're new to my blog, welcome, and for those of you whom I've had the chance to connect with before, welcome back! My name is Sarah, and I currently hail from Portland ME, where I live with with my husband and our two daughters. Of all the hats I wear - mom, milspouse, and maker - it's that last one that leaves the fewest crayon marks on the furniture, prompts the least number of moves (unless you count my husband moving out of his study to make room for my new longarm!), and in which I get to sew, quilt and create. On my blog you'll find a mix of tutorials, WIPs, finished projects, and updates for whatever current QAL I'm hosting or participating in.

My mother taught me how to quilt when I was a child, but I've only really appreciated and rediscovered my love of the craft now that I have my own children to sew for. I constantly doodle ideas for big quilts I want to tackle, but my completed work reveals a definite bent toward kids' projects, quick sewing and raw edge applique - like my latest finish pictured below, a "deer" little doll quilt for my niece! I've just recently acquired a HQ24 Fusion, though, and I'm excited to take my work in a new direction in the coming months so that I can offer longarm quilting services to my clients. 

Today I decided to highlight three of my most favorite quilted projects. The first is a baby quilt I made for a client as a shower gift. She requested a "nautical feel without nautical prints," and loved the look of this wonky star, so I created one as the focal point. Living near the coast meant the perfect photo op at our local lighthouse! (If you love the look of wonky stars, too, here's a tutorial to create your own... or sign up for my newsletter and get the FREE Starshine Baby Quilt pattern to recreate this design yourself!)

Another favorite of mine are these doll quilts with matching bedding that I made for my daughters this past Christmas. They happily joined the previous year's quilts (my kids are a bit spoiled when it comes to doll furniture - each doll has their own bunk and their own quilt : P) and have been very well loved!

Finally, some fun decor projects I whipped up this [bitterly cold] spring when an endless winter had me longing for daffodils. For my Pantone Quilt Challenge pillow, I'd been practicing Drunkard's Path blocks and got hooked on curved piecing, so I flipped them around to create a bright cheery block to bring some sunshine inside. If you like the look, you can create it for yourself following my Daffodil Days throw pillow tutorial.

I'm so glad for this chance to tell you a little about myself and my work. I'd love for you to come back and visit Berry Barn Designs again, but you can also follow what I'm up to on IG @berrybarndesigns, Facebook and Pinterest. Speaking of the latter, let me segue into a quilt blogging tip I want to share with you today... 

Isn't Pinterest great? But don't you hate it when you pin something fantastic from your favorite blog and the description is missing or file name gibberish? Having accurate descriptions including your name/website title on your blog photos (all of them, not just the "best" one you led with - sometimes I'm not pinning your leading photo because I want to highlight an awesome quilting motif or a pretty pieced backing : ) will pay off in spades when others pin your images, as will adding hashtags so people searching Pinterest find your content. Below are directions for labeling in both Blogger and Weebly, which I'm familiar with. If you're not sure how to do this on a different platform, you can check your site's FAQs or google it to find out. 

Just a few final fun facts before I turn you over to the next stop on the hop...
 - I grew up on Cape Cod, but hate going to the beach in the summer. Too crowded!
 - I like dystopian novels, ice cream, Tuesdays and hiking.
 - I love polka dots. I know this because they seem to comprise a third of my stash and I don't even remember how they all got there! Do you have a favorite print you collect?
 - I will readily complain about the process, but I love moving. Maine is the 5th state we've called home in 7 years of marriage, and next year we head to Kansas! (Hopefully with one more little one along for the move, as we're a waiting family for adoption : )
Anyone here reading this from the Sunflower State? I'm eagerly starting to collect quilt store and retreat recommendations, so please share your favorites!

Be sure to check out these other great bloggers on today's hop!

Cornelia @ Pieced with Love
Heather @ QA Creations
Jenn @ Sew Crafty Jenn
Cheryl @ Texas Quilting Gal
Kate @ Thread Everywhere
Lin @ Lin's Quilts
Carole @ From My Carolina Home
Jan @ The Colorful Fabriholic
Wendy @ Wendy's Quilts and More
Pam @ Sewing Wilde
Shauna @ Shauna's World

~ Sarah

Linking up with Let's Bee Social.

From my "better late than never" chronicles...
I finally finished my June block for the Supernova Friendship Block Swap, though I tried to assembly line a bit and made two months' worth, so June is late and July is early. My partner Emily from The Raven's Craft made the yellow block and I made light & dark peach. We still have a dark yellow, light & dark pink, and light & dark orange to go!

~ Sarah

Linking up with Let's Bee Social.

My latest wardrobe addition: the perfect science-meets-sewing shirt! Love it and all things Stitch Laboratory.

~ Sarah